BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL TO PERFORM SECOND READING OF BUDGET, TAX RATE ADOPTION
The Brenham City Council will act on second reading of the new fiscal year’s budget and property tax rate when it meets on Thursday.
Councilmembers voted unanimously at their meeting on September 3rd to approve first reading of the $131,926,584 budget and the tax rate of $0.4750 per $100 valuation.
The new budget is up from the previous year’s adopted budget of $116,262,861 and is set to raise more total property taxes by $381,755, or 3.23 percent, which includes $207,787 in tax revenue from new property added to the tax roll this year.
The tax rate of $0.4750 per $100 is up from the previous rate of $0.4676 and the total no-new-revenue rate of $0.4669, but below the voter approval rate of $0.5108. It consists of a no-new-revenue maintenance and operations (M&O) rate of $0.3330, up from the previous year’s M&O rate of $0.3256, and an unchanged interest and sinking rate of $0.1420. With the new rate, the tax on the average homestead is projected to go up $25.08, or 1.87 percent.
(courtesy City of Brenham)
In other business, the council will act on accepting a bid for construction of street and drainage improvements on Lott Lane and Shepard Lane. The low bid is from Brazos Valley L4 LLC from North Zulch in the amount of $1,074,041. The city has a $1,044,500 grant from the General Land Office (GLO) to fund the majority of the project, with the remainder coming from the drainage utility fund.
A related item will be a resolution to authorize a contract revision with the GLO pertaining to the project. The resolution states that the total projected costs, including construction, engineering, environmental and grant management, are $1,279,845, with the city’s local contribution being $235,345 from the drainage utility fund.
Councilmembers will also hear a Public Utilities Department update and hold executive session discussion regarding the appointment, employment, evaluation and duties of the new city manager.
The council will meet Thursday at 1 p.m. at Brenham City Hall.
Click here to view the agenda packet for Thursday's meeting.